E-8 Joint STARS Poster - Airborne Battle Management & Ground Surveillance

The Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, universally known as Joint STARS, or simply JSTARS, performed one of the most operationally critical and least glamorous missions in the US Air Force inventory: watching what armies were doing on the ground from the air, in real time, across an area the size of a small country. Built on modified Boeing 707-320C airframes and centered on a distinctive 27-foot canoe-shaped radome mounted beneath the forward fuselage housing a side-looking phased array radar, the E-8C could detect, classify, and track the movement of ground vehicles, tanks, trucks, artillery pieces, at ranges exceeding 155 miles, covering nearly 50,000 square kilometers in a single scan. The information was relayed in near-real time to Army and Marine ground stations and to other airborne platforms, giving theater commanders a comprehensive picture of enemy ground force movements that had never previously been possible from the air.

JSTARS entered operational service in a rush, two developmental aircraft were deployed directly from testing to support Operation Desert Storm in 1991, flying 49 combat missions and providing what Army commanders described as the decisive advantage in tracking Iraqi Republican Guard movements. The platform subsequently accumulated over 141,000 combat flying hours across every major US engagement from the Balkans to Afghanistan to Iraq, and flew its last operational missions monitoring Russian ground forces during the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The E-8C flew its last operational mission on September 21, 2023, and the final aircraft departed Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, in November of that year. It was retired without a direct replacement, a decision that remains controversial among ground commanders who depended on its unique capability.

Our prints are museum-quality posters made on thick matte paper. They add a wonderful accent to your room or office and are sure to brighten any environment.

• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%
• Paper is sourced from Japan

We print your poster especially for you once you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Printing our posters on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction. Thank you for your understanding and making thoughtful purchasing decisions!